Paranormal investigator, Annabelle doll handler, Dan Rivera, dies while on tour with doll

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — One of the people charged with handling the Annabelle doll, the real-life haunted toy made famous by “The Conjuring” movie series, has died.

Dan Rivera was on tour in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with the cursed doll at the time of his death. He was 54.

The New England Society for Psychic Research said Rivera was the lead investigator for the organization.

He died unexpectedly while on the “Devils on the Run Tour,” which was in the Civil War town this weekend, stopping at the Soldiers National Orphanage.

Rivera and another investigator, Ryan Daniel Buell, had taken the Annabelle doll on a country-wide tour, the Evening Sun newspaper in York County, Pennsylvania, reported.

First responders were sent to a hotel in the town, answering a call of CPR in progress, according to the Evening Sun.

The cause of death was not released, WVIT reported.

The three-day Gettysburg stop was sold out this past weekend and allowed visitors to see the allegedly haunted Raggedy Ann doll in person, TMZ reported.

Rivera told those in attendance that he had taken steps to “protect them” from the doll, including building the case that holds the toy. The box has three crosses, he explained, and he used stain that supposedly contained holy water, the Evening Sun reported

Rivera was an Army veteran who founded his own paranormal group after serving his country. He started attending lectures given by renowned paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren about her career. In her final years, Warren worked with Rivera and eventually, he was named the lead investigator of the NESPR in 2011.

The museum set up by Warren and her husband closed in 2019, but parts of the collection, including the Annabelle doll, have toured the country and been put on display.

The doll was scheduled to appear at an event in September in Maine.

© 2025 Cox Media Group